merrion street

Today (23/01/17), Seán Kyne T.D., Minister of State for Gaeltacht Affairs and Natural Resources at the Department of Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs welcomed the publication of Realising our Rural Potential – the Action Plan for Rural Development which was launched by An Taoiseach, Enda Kenny T.D., in Ballymahon Library, Co. Longford.

“This Action Plan, produced by the Government, strongly supports economic and social development in all rural communities. Furthermore, the Plan highlights the importance of investment and development in Irish language based tourism and natural resources in Gaeltacht areas.”

As Minister with responsibility for both Gaeltacht Affairs and Natural Resources, Minister of State Kyne said:

“This Plan recognises the importance of the Irish language as a key resource in Gaeltacht and other rural communities. In particular, I support the investment in Irish language based tourism in the Gaeltacht with the provision of learning facilities for Irish language learners in summer camps and community centres, and through the administering of Gaeltacht scholarships in 3rd level institutions.”

“I am also delighted to see the commitment from Údarás na Gaeltachta to support 1,500 new jobs in client companies in the Gaeltacht by 2020 and also the commitment to develop four innovation hubs to support entrepreneurship and start-up companies in the Gaeltacht Regions. ”